This disclosure relates generally to power tools and, more particularly, to the installation of threaded fasteners in aerospace and related industries.
One type of threaded fastener used in the aerospace industry is a frangible threaded fastener such as the Hi-Lok type fastener. Such fasteners are particularly adapted for fastening two or more panels or workpieces together in areas where limited access exists for installation tooling. At least some of such threaded fasteners include a pin or bolt component that has a head and an opposite threaded end, and a nut component that has an internally-threaded body portion and a torque-off drive nut portion. The pin or bolt component is inserted from the rear (relative to the tooling) of an assembly, and the body of the nut component of the fastener is preliminarily threaded onto the exposed threaded end of the pin or bolt component on a front side of the assembly.
Tooling is applied over the nut component to engage the torque-off drive nut portion of the nut component. The tooling substantially prevents the pin or bolt component from rotating while the nut component of the fastener is threaded to the pin or bolt component and until a predefined torque is reached. At the predetermined torque, the drive-nut portion of the nut component is separated from the threaded body of the nut component. As such, the drive-nut portion of the nut component may be lost or may fall inside the manufactured structure where it can be difficult to remove.